Another Big List of Very Awesome Names: Hacker callsigns

 "Dade?"

"Yeah, Ma?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking over a TV network."

"Finish up, honey, and get to sleep."

I just felt like putting another list together as a challenge. I thought maybe that this time I'd talk a little about the process and what passes for my naming philosophy here. Whether it's shadowrunning names, hacker callsigns, or secret agent pseudonyms, a name your character chose for themselves is prime real estate for expression. Even if it's one they earned from others, it's still far more meaningful than the name they were born with. So to me, this isn't an opportunity to pass up. 

I want to get it out of the way that I think edgy names detailing how dangerous someone is aren't exactly bad. However, their best use is probably to contrast to someone's physical appearance and/or demeanor. It's compelling when someone who's earned a name like "The Plague" or "Planet Cracker" isn't what you expected when you heard those names, and it's even better when you can prove why they got those names later on. I think that the more talented someone is, the more they trend toward a name that's descriptive, colorful or even just strange. After all, they don't feel like they have anything to prove.

It's also easier to express something about your character if you choose something personal instead of just something to make people think they're dangerous. If the fact that your character is super dangerous and skillful is the only thing you can think of? I urge you to re-think your character's personality and background. Normal people have hobbies, likes and dislikes, important events in their past, philosophies that could have inspired them, or a name that they could've earned by being good at a particular thing...or even just doing it a lot. Listen to a few songs by Tech N9ne and you can probably get why he earned a nickname comparing him to a sub-machine gun: his rapid-fire cadence. 

Double meanings are a lot of fun too. Our friend Planet Cracker might be a very dangerous hacker known for taking whole systems offline, or he could just be prolific in the world of software cracking. He could be both! Someone named Bloody Mary could be particularly violent...or a hopeless alcoholic. It can be really hard to come up with two aspects of your character that come together like this, so I'll let you in on my secret: Sometimes I come up with the name first. A name popping into my head has given me a shot of inspiration more than once. It's part of why I come up with these lists! We often hold our TTRPG characters to higher standards than real people. In the real world, people have weird stuff they're into and weird little quirks or events in their life that stick with them and create nicknames. I met a guy named Popcorn Tub once. Bucket of popcorn in their PFP and everything. Like I said, names come from everywhere. 

A special note about Shadowrunner handles: A lot of them trend toward multiple words. Orange Queen, Chromed Accountant, Cigar Chomper, Neon Wraith, The Smiling Bandit, etc. There are still plenty of single-word names, but in general don't be afraid to go pretty long in this setting. Just be aware that you are GOING to get a shortened version of your callsign used on you whether you want it or not, so it's best to consider that and build it into your name from the beginning. 

Finally, some hacker-related naming advice. Most of this was "common sense" enough that I almost didn't include it, but I felt bad. The stereotype of a hacker(data specialist, decker, etc) is a tech-oriented, often tech-obsessed person who relies on their intellect and cleverness to accomplish goals. They usually came up in a culture where reputation is extremely important: they might even be arrogant or dramatic because of it. Puns, especially puns on tech terms, are going to be very common. Names centered around secrecy, thievery or crime will also be common. Names which are extremely weird are pretty memorable too, and that's very important to them. If you're making a hacker(decker, data specialist, etc), I firmly believe that you can't skip this step. You need a cool name. You can't just be Bob the Hacker. 

Though, that name certainly works for Bob the Drag Queen, so. Do what you want.

Concrete Drinker

Redline Rider

Burnout Shaman

Graverobber

Muzzler

Blowtorch Surgeon

Matrix Mortician

Cruel Candy

Glacier Cowboy

Signal Thief

Habit

Sub Standard

Dance Hall Demon

Aphasic Firewall

Itchfinger

WIPcrack

Gumbreath

Cognitophage

Antisocial Engineer

Dataline Tramp

Squidpunk

Actual Hal

Rabid Child

Bad End

Have Mallet, Will Travel

Abberationist

Backdoor Spider

Laglurker

Poetry in Stasis

Scriptfather

--[~~~~\/~~~~]--

These are way harder to do, because they're more serious than my last drill. That's why you got thirty and not fifty. Doing these drills and actually working on my naming schemes is tough, but it's taught me that I'm probably a lot better at this than the average gamer. A lot of people struggle, and I've even known one or two who are confident but awful at it. I hope these posts help. 

If I can leave you with one piece of advice, it's this: Don't be afraid to be weird. Don't ever let anyone tell you that your character has to be more normal or that a name is too strange. The real world has amazingly wild people in it, and whether their name is one they were given or one they chose for themselves doesn't matter at all.